Return to Half Circle
by CaptainFlye
Summary: Some harpers are going to give Elgion some company in the dreary Half Circle Sea hold, but one of them refuses to reveal their face. Who is it, and why are they here?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Dragon Riders of Pern books in whole or in part. I don't intend ever to, and I'll let the McCaffreys continue it on their own. I'm no professional writer.**

**Anyways, I'm not really sure when this takes place, but we'll say it's sometime after Dragon Singer, and probably also Dragon Drums. I haven't read these books in a while, and I don't have my books to reference, but this is an idea I've had for a while, and hey, when the bug bites, I write! Enjoy! :)**

Elgion sighed as he ate his dinner. Despite how everywhere else in Pern had changed due to the fire lizards, little had changed in the Half-Circle Sea Hold. Yanus ordered searches for fire lizards solely because it was his duty to the Wyer. He never spoke it to the harper, but Elgion knew that he grumbled about the waste of time and energy. Yanus was the kind of man that felt everything had to have a practical purpose to fishing to truly be important. Most of the rest of his family was the same. Mavi usually had a glare to spare for any fire lizard, and Sella squeaked whenever one got with a few feet of her.

Alemi, on the other hand, had been quite happy when he, Elgion, and T'gellan had found another fire lizard nest down the shore along the river a turn and a half back. Elgion felt slightly uneasy, thinking of the proximity that that river held to the Dragon Stones where Menolly had resided when she ran away from the Sea Hold. He had never told Ameli this, though Alemi was the only person who would really want to know what had happened to his sister. Manora had told him about Menolly's wishes that no one at the Sea Hold know about her, and he had promised to keep her secret.

Elgion sighed again, wishing that T'gellan would come and take him on a search again. Of course, he smiled as he rubbed his little blue Sky's snout, life was a bit easier now that he had a fire lizard of his own. And Alemi had two! A brown and a green. He smiled again as he remembered the message he had received that two fellow harpers would be visiting within the next seven day. It would mean beautiful music that, due to the rough life at the Sea Hold, could not even come close to being managed on his own. He wondered who would be coming to relieve him from his boredom…

…

The two harpers and the dragon rider had had a hearty noon meal. T'gellan could only wonder at the one harper, though, who chose to remain silent due to a recent vow not to speak until their next performance, but enjoyed laughing and joking with Sebell before their departure. It was in high spirits that the three of them hopped onto his bronze Monarth. The cloaked harper shivered and T'gellan laughed.

"You never have liked going between, have you?" This earned him a punch to his arm and he laughed more. _Alright, __Monarth_, _let's go to Half-Circle. Elgion will be glad for the company_

**So. this is the first part of the story. I have this one mostly completed, but I'm having trouble with a couple of parts, so I'm not sure how often it will update. It won't take too long, though. This is a pretty short fanfic. R&R please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Dragon Riders of Pern books in whole or in part. I don't intend ever to, and I'll let the McCaffreys continue it on their own. I'm no professional writer.**

**Ok, so this is deffinatly after Dragon Drums, but I've been informed that a couple of my facts are off [that's what happen when you start reading a series and never finish]. So, for now, know that there are a couple things that disagree with the actually series that i don't mean to, and those will be changed at a later date. It doesn't affect my story enough, though, what I've been told. My main change will show up in the next two updates [this story should only be 4 altogether]. It is intended to be different, but I thought long and hard before doing it. But since that's later, forget it now and just enjoy the read!**

Yanus and been informed that a rider and two harpers would be in his Hold for the feast day, and while he was happy to hear news from Benden Wyer and house one of their riders, he had long since preferred as few harpers as possible in his hold. He did not like to think on the memories they brought.

Hearts were light as the performance continued. The music was wonderfully refreshing to the stale sea hold life. Even Yanus thought that this would, after all, liven the mood on the ships and help his men do their work better. He hadn't heard music this catchy since… but that was a long time ago and life was better the way it ended. He couldn't help but glare at the hooded harper now and again. Why did they keep their face hidden? Did they think that they were so far above his hold that they would be shamed to show their face?

As the evening wore on, one of the two new harpers took a couple steps forward.

"Our next song was written by our very own harper seated behind me. It was inspired by a day they were rescued by a dragon as they tried to outrun thread, and lead to their being apprenticed to the master harper a few seven days later." He laughed. "We had quite the time trying to track them down, as no one was very forth coming about their presence and such, but actually, several of these songs were written by them. And now, it is our please to play you, the running song." Sebell sat back down and let the other harper step forward.

The tall figure stood and delicately tuned their gitar. They strummed a few notes, to which the crowd sighed. Then the fingers paused for a moment before coming down hard to play the new song. Several of the boys felt their adrenaline rise as they could feel the beat of a hard come coming down. They were quite familiar with the feeling, but almost everyone froze as the figure began to sing to this fast paced song. It was not what they had expected.

What they had expected as a rich tenor, but this voice was quite defiantly singing soprano, and it sounded so familiar. Was that really a man's voice? What man could reach such high notes? The song ended, and last strains left those feeling the relief that come from the rescue, yet the fear of the moments in between before warmth returned again, but still their minds wondered on the singer. Finally, they spoke.

"Now, it is time for a song written here, while Petiron was yet alive." Several people gasped, wondering who this was, especially with what was obviously a young woman's voice, who had known Petiron, and some slowly began to remember the girl they had tried so hard to forget as the harper played the tune that she herself had been tricked with so long ago as she sat waiting to give the master harper his fire lizard eggs. Her voice was richer and sweeter than ever, but even that didn't stop Yanus as it she tossed her hood away from her face as she sang and her long red locks flowed from her face, no revealed as the hood was pushed aside.

"NO!"

**So, who _didn't_ see this coming? If you know the books, you pretty much had to know. Like i said, i have something in the next couple sections that aren't in the story and so it's slightly AU. Hope you don't mind. I just had a lot of trouble with the one character's reaction, but I'm rambling in the wrong chapter again. Lol. Just read and enjoy this. If anyone is a Calvin and Hobbes fan as well, that's my only other story, and I'm almost done with that one. Feel free to read it, too. Have a great week!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Dragon Riders of Pern books in whole or in part. I don't intend ever to, and I'll let the McCaffreys continue it on their own. I'm no professional writer.**

**It took me a while to decide what would best fit Yanus for a reaction in this situation, so I hope I did a good job by you all. I always wanted to just shove it to him, you know?! This chapter right here was the inspiration for the whole thing! I would would read the book and just want to throttle Yanus every-single-time. It never failed! Lol; i guess despite my generally laid back personality, i just have little tolerance for idiots. But, like i said, I hope i did a good job by you guys. For myself, I am satisfied. I did what i thought would be pluasable.**

**Also, you'll see another character here from those books [well, the first one anyways]. I know this is defiantly a little AU, but I just has so much trouble trying to decide if I wanted to keep this character as their main personality from the book, or change them for something else. Well, i decided to change them. No flames on that please. I did it because i firmly believe that people can change, so that's what I made this one do. Now, enough of my ramblings; enjoy!**

"NO!"

Everyone turned to look at the sea holder, who had risen from his seat, his face red with fury. The music stopped and the musicians lowed their instruments as if they had expected this, and they treated it as an annoyance.

"Why, whatever is the matter _father_?" asked the girl.

"Menolly," many a voice whispered as those who had suspected, or had been slow to figure out, received confirmation as to who the harper woman was.

"I forbid it! Cease this instant and-"

"And what? Go to my room? Lay over your knee while you strap me with your belt? I do not answer to you anymore, Yanus." She practically spat his name. If it was possible, his face got even redder with that comment.

"I am your father girl!"

"But I am Master Harper Robinton's own apprentice. One of three, and his authority is above yours in your secluded little corner of the world. And I have left that corner." Yanus gapped for a moment as Mavi stood.

"How could you speak so to your father girl? He raised you with his blood and sweat-"

"And would have kept me from fulfilling my dreams, not to mention depriving you of the music that I've noticed you rather enjoying for most of the night. All I ever learned from here is just the opposite as I have learned since I left. Including how to heal a cut hand," she said, raising her still scared hand with which she had been playing all night." At that moment Sella came from the kitchens where she had left to get more warm klah for her family. As she turned around and saw her sister, she screamed and dropped the pitchers her had been carrying. Everyone jumped at the sound, but before anymore could react more, she tore up to the stage and, much to Menolly's shock, embraced her long missing sister, crying into her.

"It's you, it's you, it's you! Oh Menolly , it's you!" Menolly, now at a loss for words, gently patted her shorter sister's back till Yanus found his voice again and began walking to the stage.

"Girl, it's timed you learned again your place in the world." Before he could make it halfway, there were suddenly the two harpers, rider T'gellan, and even Alemi, the latter two of whom had been hiding in the shadows. T'gellan spoke.

"Indeed it is, sir, but it is in the harper hall that she is learning this, and with the Wyer's great approval and, I might add, appreciation. Not only for her music, but also for the other help she has given us." He nodded towards Menolly, who closed her eyes for a moment. As instant later, nine fire lizards appeared, three of whom tried to dive bomb Yanus, who crouched and guarded his head with his hands as they dove, but a call after them from Menolly brought them out of the dive and onto her should, a gold, a bronze, and a brown.

"This young lady was a great help to wyer in herself imposed, though welcome from you, we came to realize, exile from half circle sea hold. She found us then a whole nest of fire lizard eggs we were able to give to holders, craftsmen, and Lord holders throughout Pern at the very next hatching after she ran away. She has more than earned a place away and far from Half Circle, and into a much bigger world. Master Harper Robinton informs us that she has been a great help to him in other matters, also. The wyer approves of Menolly, and will have it known that she is held in great honor by us, and that no matter what you say or do, she will be returning with us at the end of this night." Yanus stood there, still red with anger, but without any idea what to say. Everyone was waiting for an explosion from him, but in the end, he turned around and marched out of the hall, Mavi running after him.

Alemi turned around to finally hug to sister to see her being gripped to death by his other sister in fright as she was surrounded by curious fire lizards all around Menolly. He couldn't help but laugh. Meanwhile, Elgion took care of dismissing the rest of the sea hold for the night, much to the dismay of some, but to the relief of most.

"Menolly, perhaps you should send them away, then Sella will likely let you breathe again!" Nodding, Menolly sent Beauty and the rest away as Sella hurriedly released her sister in response to Alemi's words.

"Sorry, Menolly," she said. Menolly massaged her ribs for a moment.

"It's alright, though I must admit, you were about the last person I would have expected _that_ from." Sella fidgeted.

"I-I felt bad ever since you disappeared, and I began to realize how cruel we all were to you. I- I always wished I'd had the chance to apologize, but you were gone! I didn't know what to do anymore on that." She laughed, and though it was quite nervously, it was much more pleasant to Mennolly's ears than it had been before.

"Well, perhaps next time I'm at Benden Wyer we'll have T'gellan come by and you can visit us in the Wyer." Sella shuddered.

"Are there very many, uh..."

"Fire lizards?" finished Alemi, knowing his sister's fear of his own. She nodded. Mennolly grimaced at it.

"Yes, actually, quite a few. Several Benden riders and others there have them." Sella shuddered.

"Still, I guess I could manage." T'gellan was actually watching this all with amusement.

"Actually, you might want to do a little more of that," he said. "Getting used to fire lizards I mean." The three siblings turned to look at him questioningly.

"Why is that?"

"Well, Monarth here says that you have the potential to be a rider." Sella fainted so quickly that Alemi and Mennolly almost couldn't catch her before she hit the ground.

**Well, I'm sure everyone saw the Yanus throw down coming [not that he got to throw down much :P) So, how was it? **

**Also, who saw Sella coming? ;) Like i said, alot of thought went into whether or not i would change her, but i thought it would be nice to show that someone wh_o used_ to be antagonistic could change for a better attitude. It does actually happen. I've seen that kind of thing once or twice, despite my relatively young age. And i couldn't resist making her scared of fire lizards just to have the potential of being a rider. It was just too good to pass up! SRY!!! Don't flame me for that one please! It was just too fun!**

**So, I have another chapter involving that; do you really want to see it, or do you like it ending here?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Dragon Riders of Pern books in whole or in part. I don't intend ever to, and I'll let the McCaffreys continue it on their own. I'm no professional writer.**

**So, here's the last chapter. It's actually a lot longer than it was thirty minutes ago. You can thank Rhavis for that. Because they asked for longer chapters, I started to think, what else could I add into this story? Looking at it, I had felt that it was pretty complete, but then I thought, as i was sitting here, I came up with a spot that i could lengthen in this last chapter. So, everything in italics is new today, written between 3:00 and 3:20 MST. I don't do too much revision or anything so this, like everything else you've read, got it's initial write up, and then grammar/spell check. I find that i often make things worse when I work at it harder. My best writing in often on the fly. So, just let me know what you think of the work, both new material and old. So, read and review! Hope you like it.**

**note made 3/22/10- Sella's dragon is now officially renamed to be a _correct _Pernese dragon name. Thank-you to those who pointed that out. Also, I've reread this and made any other grammar corrections needed for this chapter. Expect the rest to follow at some future date.**

_Later that night Sella almost collapsed as she struggled off the dragon that brought her to Benden Weyr. Menolly, fortunately, was already on the ground to catch her. _

_"Thanks," Sella whispered, embarrassed. _

_"No problem," the red head told his sister as she started walking her to her room. There room Menolly was staying in was used for guests and potential dragon riders. _

_As they walked down the halls, Menolly smiled thinking about the last few hours. T'gellan had sent Monarth for another dragon, just in case Sella decided to go with them after she woke up from her faint an regained her wits. It had taken nearly half an hour for her to wake up from her shock, and another hour after that for Alemi and Menolly to convince her that leaving the hold would be a good idea. Eventually it was Menolly pointing out that the hold had never given her personally anything but pain, but that in her new world she had many friends all over Pern that supported her in her dreams. Sella reluctantly agreed to go to the hatching and attempt to impress. T'gellan had slapped her heartily on the back, nearly causing her to collapse. He apologized for hitting her so hard. _

_But now they were here in Benden Weyr…tired and ready to sleep. As they neared Menolly's room, which was big enough for her to share with her sister, Sella spoke up._

_"Menolly, I have to ask… do you forgive me for how cruel I was to you?" Menolly looked down at her in surprise._

_"Of course!" She laughed. "Unlike Yanus," and she nearly spit with disgust at saying her father's name, "Unlike Yanus, you actually changed. That itself gives you credit! I mean, most of the people in half circle will never leave it for even a day, and yet you left it altogether, and possibly for good. You have a different character than I expected, and you even ran up and hugged me when you knew our… father… would not want you to, so…" She laughed and scratched the back of her head while Sella kept her head down. "I sound the fool rambling on like that." She lowered her arm after another chuckle. _

_"What I mean, Sella, is that in everything I've seen from you tonight, I can tell that you've changed, and that you really are sorry for when we were a little younger, so of course I forgive you." Sella smiled at her and gave her a hug, on the verge of tears again. Menolly had noticed that she seemed prone to those. Maybe it was the stress?_

_"Thank-you, Menolly." They kept walking. "That was beautiful music tonight. I did you really write some of it?"_

_"Sella, I wrote **all** of it, though Master Robinton did make some corrections or suggestions here and there." Sella got wide eyed._

_"All of it?"_

_"All of it."_

_"That's… that's amazing! I never realized that you were **that** talented." Menolly shrugged._

_"One thing I've learned away from Half Circle: there's a lot of talent all over Pern, and often in unexpected places. Take my friend Piemur…" and this track of conversation took them the rest of the way to their room. With it being so late, there was no one awake to stop them, or change the room around. While it was big enough for several guests, it was set aside for Menolly and only had things for one person. After some convincing, Sella took the bed and Menolly laid down on the couch, and they went to sleep._

_The next day Menolly went back to her harpering duties after introducing Sella to some of her friends till T'gellan came to take her away to learn about the impression ceremony and the duties of possible dragon riders. They hugged before separating, Sella expressing some fear at being left alone with no one she really knew._

_"Don't worry, Sella, Everyone here is great, and I'll be back as soon as I can, but defiantly for the impression ceremony."_

_"Thank-you, Menolly. I- I guess I'll see you later." Then they hugged one last time, and Menolly watched Sella walk away. She tilted her head as she saw her sister's stride change. It started off scared, but then she straightened, and Menolly could tell that her sister was trying to put off the fear that surrounded her. Menolly smiled. Sella would be fine. Just like Menolly, when she left the sea hold, Sella would find her hidden strength. She started humming as she went to meet Sebel and their rider that would take them home, thinking of a song to describe the two of them leaving home and finding new strength and new friends._

_A couple seven days later, Menolly got word to meet with Master Robinton to head straight to Benden hold. It was hatching time. Menolly could feel the excitement filling her chest as she thought of her sister possibly impressing and joining the ranks of the Benden riders._

_They got there quickly, and she ran to find Alemi, bidding the master harper a quick farwell. Alemi and Menolly had already agreed on where to meet. When she was almost at the door to the west wing of the Weyr, she heard her name over the crowd._

_"Menolly!" Looking around she saw Alemi coming in from from another part of the Weyr. She went over to him and the two ran up to the balconies to watch their sister._

_When they found some seats they started looking around. Only a couple of eggs had hatched so far, and cheers were already rising as first a blue, then a bronze impressed their riders, two young boys that looked to be from relatively close to Benden. The two kept looking for their sister and another minute later Alemi grabbed her shoulder and pointed to a spot almost right beneath them. Sella had been below them almost the whole time. Shouting her name together, they made themselves heard. Sella, who had been standing there in shock, looked up. Seeing her siblings, she gave them a weak smile and wave. They visually encouraged her to walk out into the sands further. Still in a daze, she walked out and joined another group of hopeful riders._

_ Sitting down, Menolly had to sigh, _thinking in amusement as to how things had gone. She had to admit, her visit to Half Circle had actually gone better than she had expected. She had thought the best case scenario would be talking with Alemi again and Yanus not finding the words he wanted, and then trying to drag her in for a strapping with his broad belt, though she knew that T'gellan and Sebel would never have let him. Instead, he had left the room with no idea what to say, and she and Alemi were sitting in the stands, waiting to see if their sister would impress a dragon! She shook her head, smiling and thinking how odd fate was.

She looked out at her sister to see her still clutching her skirts, eyes wide in fright as she looked at the small dragons walking around her as they sought out the ones who would become their riders. Alemi sighed.

"She's too timid, you know. I just don't think she'll have what it takes." Mennolly laughed, both at what he said, and how absurd it was that she was actually about to defend her once hated sister.

"Oh, I don't know about that. She seems to have more capacity for change than we've given her credit for."

Almost that same moment, Sella screeched as a small green butted one of her legs from behind. She fell over and began to scramble away backwards on her bum before she froze, not even noticing the heat of the sands on her hands. She lowered herself to the ground as the green slowly approached, having picked itself up from its own fall after being startled by Sella's screech.

Hesitantly, Sella reached forth a hand, and began to scratch the ridges on the snout of the green, and her fear turned to surprise and joy as she was soon hugging the gangly head as it rubbed against her. She raised her head, searching for Alemi and Mennolly, who were now on their feet and leaning hard over the railing, anxiety and excitement on their faces. Once she found them, she proudly exclaimed, "Her name is Bellath!"

**So, like i said, it took a little while to figure out what it was that i could lengthen. Then i realized that you never really see any reason for Menolly to tell Alemi that she thought Sella had more 'capacity' than Alemi thought she did, and also that Menolly never actually told Sella that she forgave her. I thought that it provided a little better explanation of her character and the reason that she had potential as a rider. **

**Also, I'd like to give a shout out to those that posted the most reviews to thank them for doing so. So, thank-you to: Rhavis, Miz636, GinnyStar, and Brownriderco, all of whom reviewed each chapter. I'm sure I won't be disappointed. ;)**

**And thank-you to everyone who reviewed my story and pointed out my mistakes to me. I still need to go back and correct some of these, but thanks to you, they will be corrected.**

**So, how did you like it?**


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